MEAT ATLAS Facts and Fi Gures About the Animals We Eat IMPRINT/IMPRESSUM

MEAT ATLAS Facts and fi gures about the animals we eat IMPRINT/IMPRESSUM The MEAT ATLAS is jointly published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin, Germany, and Friends of the Earth Europe, Brussels, Belgium Executive editors: Christine Chemnitz, Heinrich Böll Foundation Stanka Becheva, Friends of the Earth Europe Managing editor: Dietmar Bartz Art director: Ellen Stockmar English editor: Paul Mundy Copy editor: Elisabeth Schmidt-Landenberger Proofreader: Maria Lanman Research editors: Bernd Cornely, Stefan Mahlke Contributors: Michael Álvarez Kalverkamp, Wolfgang Bayer, Stanka Becheva, Reinhild Benning, Stephan Börnecke, Christine Chemnitz, Karen Hansen-Kuhn, Patrick Holden, Ursula Hudson, Annette Jensen, Evelyn Mathias, Heike Moldenhauer, Carlo Petrini, Tobias Reichert, Marcel Sebastian, Shefali Sharma, Ruth Shave, Ann Waters-Bayer, Kathy Jo Wetter, Sascha Zastiral Editorial responsibility (V. i. S. d. P.): Annette Maennel, Heinrich Böll Foundation This publication is written in International English. First Edition, January 2014 Production manager: Elke Paul, Heinrich Böll Foundation Printed by möller druck, Ahrensfelde, Germany Climate-neutral printing on 100 percent recycled paper. Except for the copyrighted work indicated on pp.64–65, this material is licensed under Creative Commons “Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported“ (CC BY-SA 3.0). For the licence agreement, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode, and a summary (not a substitute) at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en. This publication has been produced with the financial assistance of the Development Fields project, funded by the European Commission. The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of Friends of the Earth Europe and the Heinrich Boell Foundation and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Commission. FoR oRders aNd dowNload Heinrich Böll Foundation, Schumannstr. 8, 10117 Berlin, Germany, www.boell.de/fleischatlas Friends of the Earth Europe, www.foeeurope.org/meat-atlas MEAT ATLAS Facts and figures about the animals we eat 2014 TaBlE oF Contents 2 IMPRINT 22 wHY FaRMS KIll FISH: BIodIVERSITY loSS oN laNd 6 INTRodUCTIoN aNd IN waTER Overfertilization harms plants and 8 lESSoNS To lEaRN animals and damages ecosystems worldwide. Nitrates in groundwater can cause 10 THE RISE oF THE GloBal MaRKET cancer. In coastal waters, they can result in The developed world has fewer and fewer oxygen-starved “dead zones”. farmers, but they are keeping more and more animals. Instead of producing 24 a SPECIES-PooR PlaNET for the local market, they supply The genetic basis of livestock is getting ever distant supermarkets. This same shift is narrower. We are relying on a few, now transforming livestock specialized breeds of animals, such as the production in the developing world. black-and-white Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle that are raised in over 130 countries. A few 12 CoNCENTRaTIoN: ECoNoMIES high-yielding strains also dominate the oF SCalE BUT lESS dIVERSITY production of chickens, goats, pigs and sheep. Economic imperatives are the driving force behind the consolidation of the global 26 aNTIBIoTICS: BREEdING SUPERBUGS meat industry. This may mean more Industrial producers use large amounts efficient production, but it also concentrates of pharmaceuticals to prevent diseases from market power in the hands of just a few, spreading like wildfire among animals much to the detriment of smallholders. And on huge factory farms, and to promote faster it may be risky for consumers, too. growth. But this is dangerous: bacteria are developing resistance to drugs that are 14 MaKING PRodUCTS FRoM aNIMalS: vital to treat diseases in humans. THE SlaUGHTER INdUSTRY To get from steer to steak, the steer has to die. 28 wHEN THE TaNK IS RUNNING dRY Today, slaughtering is highly industrialized. The growth of the world’s livestock industry Abattoirs are production lines with semi- will worsen the overuse of rivers and skilled workers toiling in poor conditions. The lakes. It’s not that animals are particularly industry has moved out of cities, hidden from thirsty; but a lot of water is needed view. Animal-rights groups are questioning to grow the fodder they eat, and dung from the ethics of the slaughter industry. factory farms pollutes the groundwater with nitrates and antibiotic residues. 16 BRIGHT PINK IN THE Cold CaBINET It’s goodbye to the neighbourhood 30 THE GRaIN IN THE FEEd TRoUGH butcher and hello to supermarket chains. The Ruminants and people do not have to shift to Big Retail is now washing over compete over food. But producing more meat developing countries. The demands of the requires ever more grain to feed to animals rising middle classes are setting the agenda. as concentrates. If we cannot grow enough at home, we have to import it from abroad. 18 FREE TRadE VERSUS SaFE Food The Transatlantic Trade and Investment 32 THE EMERGENCE oF a laTIN Partnership agreement currently aMERICaN SoY EMPIRE being negotiated between the United States In Argentina, the world boom in soy prices and the European Union promises to has given rise to a new breed of farmers, boost trade and jobs. But it may also weaken along with a huge increase in tax revenues existing consumer-protection laws for the government. The structural on both sides of the Atlantic. changes in farming have led to serious social and ecological effects. 20 THE HIddEN CoSTS oF STEaK The price tag on a package of meat does not 34 THE ClIMaTE CoST oF CaTTlE reflect the true cost of producing the Livestock directly or indirectly produce nearly contents: the hidden costs to the environment one-third of the world’s greenhouse gas and the taxpayer are much higher. If emissions. But farmers and scientists say that these costs are included, livestock raising with the right type of management, livestock would probably make a net loss. do not have to be a burden on the climate. 4 MEaT aTlaS 36 RaNCHERS IN THE RaINFoREST 50 URBaN lIVESToCK KEEPING In Brazil’s Amazon region, the world’s For many, urban livestock is a second-largest herd of cattle meets the contradiction in terms. Isn’t livestock-raising world’s biggest rainforest. This is bad news a rural activity, and don’t cities ban for the forest. First come the loggers, livestock because of the smell, noise and then come the ranchers. pollution? Yet urban livestock are crucial for the livelihoods of many poor city 38 THE GlYPHoSaTE IN YoUR BURGER dwellers. And they provide nutritious If pesticides, herbicides or medicines leave food at lower prices than their country cousins. unwanted residues in meat, milk and eggs, we end up consuming them too. Gaps 52 TURNING SCRUB INTo PRoTEIN in research leave uncertainty about Much of the world’s livestock, and much of its what glyphosate – a weedkiller used when meat, milk and eggs, are raised by growing genetically modified soybeans – non-industrial producers. Many of them does to our bodies. Legal loopholes mean we manage their animals on land that is may be eating it without knowing it. unsuited for crops, optimizing the use of local resources. But the existence of 40 a PlETHoRa oF PoUlTRY: CHICKENS these producers is under increasing threat. TaKE THE lEad In developed countries, consumption 54 IN SEaRCH oF Good Food of chicken is surpassing that of beef, Concerned consumers in the rich world face and chicken production is now a dilemma. They want good-quality meat highly industrialized. Demand in Asia is that is produced in an environmentally rising fast, and people who refuse friendly, ethical manner. How best to ensure pork and beef are happy to eat chicken. this? Here we look at some alternatives. 42 wHERE KEEPING CHICKENS 56 VEGETaRIaNISM: MaNY RooTS, IS woMEN’S woRK MaNY SHooTS Many women in Africa and Asia are forced Only a small percentage of the population to be dependent on their husbands for big in the industrialized world describe decisions. A few hens, chicks and eggs can themselves as vegetarians or vegans. Such build their confidence and self-reliance. lifestyles are more common in parts Their contribution to the meat supply is often of the world where religions play a major underestimated. role. In most faiths, followers are expected to abstain from meat in one way 44 IMPoRTEd CHICKEN wINGS dESTRoY or another. wEST aFRICaN BUSINESSES European poultry firms are not permitted 58 wHaT To do aNd How To do IT: to turn slaughter by-products into animal INdIVIdUalS aNd GRoUPS 26 topics feed. So they export them to developing Given all the problems with livestock countries and sell them cheap. Broiler farms production and meat consumption, and 80 graphics in Ghana and Benin have gone bankrupt. is there anything that normal people can on how we produce do? Yes: individuals can make and consume 46 dISQUIET IN THE dEVEloPEd woRld choices about their consumption patterns, meat Demand for meat in the developed world and groups can push for change. has peaked, and is beginning to decline slowly. Consumers’ worries about food safety 60 a GREENER PolICY FoR EURoPE are reinforced by scandals in the The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) industry. The industry is trying to improve has for decades supported, and distorted, its image with marketing ploys, but farm production. It has evolved from consumers are confused and the product is supporting large-scale production to taking not necessarily any better. the environment increasingly into account. But problems remain. A greener 48 HalF a BIllIoN NEw MIddlE- CAP could promote socially and ecologically ClaSS CoNSUMERS FRoM RIo To sound livestock production. SHaNGHaI Brazil, Russia, India, China and South 62 aUTHoRS aNd SoURCES Africa – the BRICS – are five big developing FoR daTa aNd GRaPHICS countries that are setting out from different starting points. They may not 64 RESoURCES end up with the food consumption patterns of the industrialized West.

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